Scarred
by CodyCrissen
Summary: Cloud is going through a tough time in his life, once again struggling with forgiving himself, and once again trying to get over the death of Zack and Arieth. Tifa tries her best to help Cloud, and just when things seem to be getting better for the both of them, something bad happens in Midgar, and Vincent and Cloud must jump into action once again.
1. Chapter 1

**Synopsis:**

Cloud is going through a tough time in his life, once again struggling with forgiving himself, and once again trying to get over the death of Zack and Arieth. Tifa tries her best to help Cloud, and just when things seem to be getting better for the both of them, something bad happens in Midgar, and Vincent and Cloud must jump into action once again.

**Cloud x Tifa**

**Rated M**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Final Fantasy VII, or anything associated to Square Enix, sadly...**

**NOTE: I'm going by the series transition. The first game was made in 1996, So I will assume the first game took place in the same year. Advent Children happened 2 years later, and Dirge of Cerberus happened 1 year later. Also, this story will tie in with my story, Undying Love.**

**SIDE NOTE: Anything that is **_**"italicized and in quotation marks"**_** is a thought.**

**_UPDATE: I'm sorry for Zack's name being spelled as "Zach." I originally typed this up on my tablet, and autocorrect must have changed it to Zach instead of Zack, and I also must have failed to notice this error. I have fixed it though. Thank you to those who brought this error to my attention in the comments of the original story._**

**Scarred**

**«-¤ Chapter 1 ¤-»**

**Post-Traumatic Stress**

**Song to set the mood: **"Stronger Than I Was" by Eminem

**Time Period: **2 years after Deep Ground

**Time: **02:00

**Date:** November 20th, 2001

**Location: **The outlands, just outside of Midgar

Cloud Strife stabbed Zack's old, rusty buster sword back into the ground where it belonged, as a memorial to Zack's memory, then stood there next to it with his hand on the hilt. He let go, then crouched down with a hand on the base and his head down, speaking to Zack in his head, _"Hey buddy, sorry I haven't been around much to talk to you… how you been?"_ Cloud sat there for a second, as if letting Zack respond. _"Why am I out at night, you ask? I… I felt… guilty… for not taking care of your memorial… so I came here to fix that…,"_ Cloud stood up, allowing the light on his bike to slightly reflect a little off the old blade. "I promised you… that I'd live out both our lives…," Cloud sighed, and ran a hand through his spikey blonde hair, "Zack… I don't even know what I'm doing… I'm supposed to be this… this father figure to Marlene and Denzel, and at the same time… be strong… for Tifa… Tifa…," Cloud looked down. "It's hard Zack… I battle with all these emotions, and I can't hold them back like Vincent does, and I'm like a walking time bomb that's ready to burst into a mental break down at any time… if it wasn't for Tifa… I don't think I could hold myself together…," Cloud put his hands on his hips. "We're engaged now… Tifa and I…," He stood there for a minute, as if Zack was replying to him. "Yeah… you're right… she's a faithful woman… and I don't know why she puts up with my shit… but… I'm thankful for her… for what she does for me… if it wasn't for her… I don't know where I'd be…," Cloud stared over at Midgar for a minute then spoke once more. "Well… I better go now, Zack. I don't want Tifa waking up and seeing that I'm not lying beside her, then getting worried sick about me. I'll see ya' later, Zack," Cloud patted the old, tattered blade, and then walked back to his bike, Fenrir.

Cloud put a leg over Fenrir, then sat down, staring down, trying to hold back a tear. He slammed his fist down on Fenrir and cringed as a million painful memories flashed through his mind, drawing unstoppable tears from his eyes. Zack, laying there on the ground, broken, bloody. The painful scream of anger and sorrow that Cloud let out when Zack took his last breath, then laid there, lifeless, his eyes still open. Then Arieth, as she laid there, lifeless, as blood poured from her abdomen and from her mouth, her eyes still open. Cloud wiped away his tears and put in his earbuds, and turned on "Stronger Than I Was" by Eminem, trying to drown out the painful memories that plagued his mind. He leaned forward, revved the engine, and took off back to Edge, deaf to his surroundings.


	2. Chapter 2

**NOTE: I'm going by the series transition. The first game was made in 1996, So I will assume the first game took place in the same year. Advent Children happened 2 years later, and Dirge of Cerberus happened 1 year later. Also, this story will tie in with my story, Undying Love.**

**SIDE NOTE: Anything that is ****_"italicized and in quotation marks"_**** is a thought.**

**Scarred**

**«-¤ Chapter 2 ¤-»**

**The Foretelling of a Problem**

**Song to set the mood: **"Whispers In The Dark" by Skillet

**Time Period: **2 years after Deep Ground

**Time: **02:30

**Date:** November 20th, 2001

**Location: **Tifa's Bar, Edge, Midgar

Cloud turned Fenrir's engine into Stealth mode, making his engine silent as to not wake Tifa, Denzel, or Marlene as he pulled into the garage of Tifa's Bar. Stealth mode was a recent upgrade that he created and installed himself. What it did was, when a switch was hit, it brought down a sound proof cover over the engine, but still allowed the engine to breathe, therefore making it quiet. He turned off Fenrir and closed the garage door as silently as he could, then walked into the door that lead to the kitchen, locking it behind him. Cloud slipped off his heavy S.O.L.D.I.E.R. combat boots so that he didn't wake anyone while walking across the hardwood flooring, then like a ninja, he walked up the stairs to the second floor, where he, Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel lived, without stepping on any of the parts of the stairs that would creak. He had memorized all the creak's locations, so it was easy. Cloud silently made his way to his and Tifa's bedroom, where Tifa's naked, sleeping form lay on her side of their bed. Cloud took his fusion sword and all its other blade attachments out of the sheath on his back, and leaned them against the wall next to their dresser, then took the sheath off his back and hung it on the stud on the wall where his swords were. Cloud stripped down to his plain black boxers, then tried to crawl into bed next to Tifa without waking her.

Tifa, who apparently wasn't asleep, rolled over to stare at Cloud. "Where have you been, Cloud?" she asked him sincerely. She put a hand on his pale face and looked into his, cobalt blue eyes lovingly. His eyes seemed to glow with the mako that ran through his body.

Cloud looked back at Tifa, "Nowhere, just out for a drive," Cloud lied to her. He didn't want to alarm her in any way so he kept his emotions to himself. Cloud hugged Tifa tight, and Tifa wrapped her arms around him, rubbing his back gently, her head against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Tifa breathed in his musky cologne, Drakkar Noir. "I love you Tifa…"

Tifa looked up and saw the pain in his eyes. She knew what was going on, and she understood that he would tell her when he was ready, "I love you too, Cloud, I'm here for you. I always have been and I always will be," she laid there against him, listening to his breathing pattern, listening to his heartbeat, listening to the faint sound of mako flow through his veins.

"I'm sorry… for not being there for you and the kids in the past…," Cloud buried his face in Tifa's hair, "It won't happen again… I promise… no more leaving…," a tear fell down his cheek as he said this.

Tifa looked up to see the tear, and cupped his face with her right hand, "I know Cloud. I know. I'm here for you, Cloud. Whenever you're depressed, whenever you're going through a tough time, I'm here for you. You can tell me anything, at any time." Tifa slowly brought her lips to his and kissed him lightly, but he melted into the kiss, so she deepened it, tears rolling down his cheeks as they kissed.

When they stopped kissing, Cloud tightened both of his arms around Tifa, and rested his head on her breasts. Tifa played with his hair, and rubbed his back, softly singing their song to him, Whispers In The Dark, by Skillet.

Cloud fell asleep laying like that, so Tifa stopped singing to him, and she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep as well. In Tifa's dream, Sephiroth had returned. Midgar was in worse ruins than before, and Vincent and Cloud stood before Sephiroth, they weapons drawn. Vincent was aiming at Sephiroth with a modded Cerberus. Long barrel, Gravity Floater, Cure Materia on a chain, an Acog scope, and an extended stock. Cloud had his fusion sword drawn, every blade equipped to it so that it was a buster sword, and Cloud was glowing blue. Sephiroth stood there staring at them both with a look so cold that it could see into your very soul. Then suddenly Sephiroth struck, and everything went black, and then all you could hear was the screaming cry from Cloud.

Tifa sat up faster than a bullet, panting. She looked over at Cloud's sleeping form, thankful that he was still there, and that the dream wasn't real. She heard a knocking at the Bar door downstairs, so she got up, put on one of Cloud's black button up shirts, and a pair of gray basketball shorts, and went downstairs to answer the door.

When Tifa opened the door, she was surprised to see Vincent standing there with the sleeping form of Yuffie, laying bridal style in his arms. "Hello Tifa…," Vincent greeted Tifa with a whisper, as to not wake up Yuffie, or anyone else who was sleeping.

"H-hey. It's good to see you Vincent," Tifa smiled, but the smile turned into a confused frown, as Vincent walked through the door into the bar. Tifa closed the door and locked it again, "Um… why is Yuffie holding a broken motorcycle mirror?"

Vincent walked up the stairs into where Tifa, Cloud, Marlene, and Denzel lived, and took Yuffie to Cloud's old bedroom, which was now one of the two Guest Bedrooms, laid her in the bed, and covered her up with a blanket, then walked back down the stairs to the bar area. Tifa was sitting at one of the booths. Vincent sat at the same booth across from her. "Some sort of creature attacked us on our way here, while we were in the Outlands, outside of Midgar. It had a slight resemblance to the creatures that Kadaj and his gang brought around during the Geostigma Crisis, but bigger. It had blood red glowing eyes, and the body of a timber wolf, but metallic smoke black skin, with a faint blood red aura around it. Its fur was like rusted black chrome, almost like… um… I think the kids call it "steampunk," except black, and its growl was bone chilling. It sounded almost like metal dragging against asphalt, with a watery sound mixed in the growl, making a gut wrenching sound. Its maw was large and it had four large fangs, dripping with what seemed to be acid. The creature tried to jump us, but Yuffie and I jumped off her bike in time, although, the creature landed on her bike, and smashed it. The only thing that Yuffie salvaged was one of the mirrors." Vincent finally answered Tifa's question.

"Oh… I see…," Tifa looked down at the booth table. "Do you need anything? Food? A drink?" Tifa stood up and started to walk into the back kitchen.

Vincent replied, "No, I am fine. All I need is some rest," Vincent stood up from the booth. Tifa stopped, turned around, then nodded in understanding, then Vincent went up the stairs to the other Guest Bedroom. Tifa walked around, turning off all the lights that were turned on, then walked back up to her and Cloud's room. She stood there staring at Cloud's sleeping form with a smile, then crawled back in bed with him, and fell back to sleep, her arms around him.


End file.
